Are you stuck?

3 reasons you’re not making progress — and how to break the plateau

Do you ever get that stagnant feeling that nothing is changing? Nothing is evolving? Are you asking yourself, “Why do I feel stuck in life?” Life can sometimes feel like a stick that is stuck in the mud – immovable and hopeless. It’s enough to create a depressive state in almost anyone.

But, feeling stuck and making progress are not interdependent. You can only be in one state at any given moment. The moment, the feeling of progress, stops when we feel stuck – and miserable – because ultimately, progress is the key to happiness.

There are three potential reasons why you’re stuck in the first place – and sometimes it’s a combination of the three.

1. Your physical state

Bad physiology reinforces negative feelings. As Tony says, “Motion creates emotion.” Changing your physiology means changing your mental state and breaking your negative patterns. Great physiology therefore, leads to great emotions, and that is one of the keys to getting unstuck. Foster a positive mental state and get unstuck by changing your physiology! This can be something as simple as standing up straighter and changing your posture or something more intensive like going on a jog to loosen up.

2. Trapped in a timeframe

One reason we feel stuck is because we’re focusing too much on the past — or too much on the future. But thinking incessantly about the future or the past won’t change anything. We only really have the power to change the present moment, so that’s where our attention should be. Wishful thinking about what could have been or what should be has never worked for anyone and won’t help you make any progress in feeling unstuck.

3. Sitting on a plateau

Why do some people achieve breakthroughs that take them to the next level, while others do not? What is the difference between being a master and a dabbler, a doer versus a talker? The former group is determined to dig deep to find the answers they need to overcome their plateau.

5 signs you’re approaching a breakthrough

Tired of feeling stuck in life? Do you feel like you have to do something different? You might be approaching a breakthrough. Here are the five signs that a breakthrough is imminent:
1. Satiation —  You’ve had enough. Enough of your financial problems, enough of your uninspiring career, enough of that extra 20 pounds you’ve been carrying around.

2. Dissatisfaction — Whatever you’re doing doesn’t work for you anymore. Maybe it’s not profitable, and maybe it’s not fun. Maybe you’re tired of not having the energy you know you need to accomplish your desired result. Your current approach might have been successful in the past, but it hasn’t adapted to your current conditions.

3. Threshold — Change becomes a “must.” If you’re facing bankruptcy, for example, or if you’re having a serious health challenge. If you can’t stop arguing with your partner and realize the relationship is no longer salvageable.

4. Insight — You get an insight, or deep understanding of something, and that creates an opening. You have a new outlook on your life and know you need to make a major change.

5. Opening — A door opens…and you step through right through it.

Push through feeling stuck until you reach the breakthrough you know you’re ready for. Tremendous progress is on the other side of your fear, as long as you have the courage to go after it.

Header image © nanD_Phanuwat/shutterstock

Team Tony

Team Tony cultivates, curates and shares Tony Robbins’ stories and core principles, to help others achieve an extraordinary life.

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